Eighteen consulting firms have been recognised as leaders in the area of workplace equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation by scoring 100% on its Corporate Equality Index.

Over the past years, focus on workplace diversity has become increasingly important. To assess the corporate policies and practices related to workplace equality for LGBT employees of large private businesses in the US, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation releases its annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The index also helps gauge trends and best practices among all businesses or in particular industries. The cornerstone of the CEI is the principle of non-discrimination with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity, ranging from non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programmes and public engagement with the LGBT community.

Businesses have been ranked in four distinct areas, of which the first is non-discrimination policies. Of the 851 companies that have been rated for the 2016 CEI, 89% provide employment protections on the basis of sexual orientation and 87% of CEI provide employment protections on the basis of gender identity. The second is equal benefits, which shows that 60% of businesses afford transgender-inclusive health care coverage options through at least one firm-wide plan. The third area is organisational competency in LGBT inclusion, with 77% of employers offering a robust set of practices to support organisational LGBT diversity competency. The last metric is public commitment, which shows that 82% of CEI-rated companies positively engage the external LGBT community, of which 57% have met the new 2016 standard demonstrating philanthropic giving guidelines.

Of the 851 companies rated by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a new record of 407 earned a top score of 100% on the index and the distinction of ‘Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality’, of which 18 firms are active in the consulting industry: